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Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 172, NO. 37 | Tuesday March 8, 2011
By David Lowenstein
Daily Trojan
Los Angeles voters will head to
the polls today to vote for seven
City Council seats and a range of
ballot measures including whether
a tax should be imposed on the sale
of medical marijuana and whether
an oil extraction fee should be
instituted.
Although there has been minimal
campaigning by advocacy groups for
the ballot measures, the race for the
City Council’s 8th District seat, which
represents USC and its surrounding
area, has intensified in the days
leading up to today’s election.
Forescee Hogan-Rowles is hoping
to oust incumbent City Councilman
and former LAPD Police Chief
Bernard Parks from the 8th District
seat.
Hogan-Rowles is the current
President and CEO of the Community
Financial Resource Center, a leading
provider of financial services for low-income
families in Los Angeles.
The two candidates have sparred
over various issues including
whether raves should be hosted at
the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The issue became particularly
contentious after a teenage girl
died of a drug overdose at the 2010
Electric Daisy Carnival.
Parks, who serves on the board
of the Coliseum Commission,
maintains raves should be held at
the Coliseum because they stimulate
the economy of the 8th District and
reflect the music preference of music
listeners worldwide.
Hogan-Rowles, however, argues
the dangers of raves far outweigh
any economic benefits and are not
conducive to the environment the 8th
District should be trying to promote.
Laura Walsh | Daily Trojan
Speak out
Vincent Vigil, director of the LGBT Student Resource Center, facilitates a discussion with students and
alumni at the Latino Queer Story event, where speakers talked about their coming-out experiences.
The event featured Sandra Valls, who was named one of Curve Magazine’s Top-10 lesbian comics.
By dara weinraub
Daily Trojan
A racy e-mail that has spread viral-ly
through the Greek community and
beyond is currently under investiga-tion
by the Kappa Sigma Fraternity
nationals.
The e-mail, whose author claims
to be a member of Kappa Sigma, asks
the members of the fraternity to re-late
all of their sexual encounters in
“Tucker Max format.” Tucker Max
writes and blogs about his drunken
activities and sexual exploits.
The author of the e-mail refers to
women as “targets” for the entirety of
the message.
“I will refer to females as ‘targets.’
They aren’t actual people like us men,”
the e-mail reads. “Consequently, giv-ing
them a certain name or distinc-tion
is pointless.”
The e-mail contains a glossary
of explicit terms to define males, fe-males
and descriptions of body parts.
The author of the e-mail also details a
way for the members of the fraternity
to rate the physical attractiveness of
their partners. Women are then cate-gorized
by their nationality and eth-nicity
in the e-mail.
“The content [of the e-mail] is con-trary
to everything [Kappa Sigma
stands] for and we are not going to al-low
individuals to attempt to tarnish
our name in any form or fashion,” said
Mitchell Wilson, executive director
of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. “We will
pursue this as far as we can.”
The full text of the e-mail has been
circulated to many students both
Greek and non-Greek, and it has been
posted on online college gossip sites.
Wilson said he received a phone
call Monday from Zach Timm, pres-ident
of Kappa Sigma at USC, about
the e-mail.
“Obviously we are appalled that
[the e-mail is] associated in any way
with our name because the e-mail
is disgusting and offensive,” Wilson
said. “We are going to do our best to
identify who the author is and hold
the person accountable.”
Pat Lauer, president of USC’s
Interfraternity council, and Ayushi
Gummadi, president of USC’s
Panhellenic council, said they were
first made aware of the e-mail
Thursday.
Though the e-mail purports to
have been sent from a member of
USC’s chapter of Kappa Sigma to the
other members of the house, Lauer
said IFC has yet to confirm who sent
the e-mail, if the e-mail really was
sent from a member of USC’s chapter
of Kappa Sigma or how the e-mail was
disseminated to the public.
“We have been told and under-stand
that this e-mail was forwarded
Kappa Sigma Nationals
investigating viral e-mail
IFC says the e-mail’s explicit
content does not reflect the
Greek community’s values.
| see e-mail, page 10 |
By Gina hernandez
Daily Trojan
Christina Ellis, a freshman
majoring in fine arts, commutes
to her internship in the Fashion
District upwards of three times a
week. To make that trip, she must
pay $53 to fill up her gas tank.
“I fill up my tank less often and
really push it,” she said.
Up 14 cents from last week and
50 cents from last month, gas
prices in Southern California now
rival those found in Alaska and
Hawaii, the two states with the
highest gas prices in the country.
Southern California gas
prices are the highest they have
been since 2008, when the state
average was $4.61.
Gas prices average $3.91 per
gallon for regular gas in the
Los Angeles Long Beach area,
according to the Automobile Club
of Southern California. The price
increase has led many students to
change their habits.
“Now I pay attention and
know which gas stations are less
[expensive] than others,” said
Kirsten Resha, an undeclared
sophomore. “I’m more aware now
than ever.”
Resha, who used to commute
to her home in Orange County
for the weekend, said she is now
less likely to make the drive home
because of the increased expense.
Students most impacted by
the rising prices are those who
commute to school every day
such as Genevieve Nguyen, a
Gas prices force students
to alter spending habits
Prices for regular gas have
reached an average of $3.91
per gallon in the Golden State.
| see gas, page 10 |
Some students unaware of Council elections
Forescee Hogan-Rowles and
incumbent Bernard Parks are
vying for the 8th District seat.
| see Elections, page 10 |
InDEX 2 · News Digest 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 6 · Sudoku 8 · Classifieds 12 · Sports
Revelations: Silvia Shap’s
portraits on display at
Fischer. PAGE 5
Hitting the road: USC heads to
Santa Barbara looking to end its
seven-game skid. PAGE 12
“Now I pay attention
and know which gas
stations are less
[expensive] than
others. I’m more aware
now than ever”
· · ·
Kristen Resha
Sophomore
Undeclared
Suji Pyun | Daily Trojan
Charter Amendment L: Los Angeles Public Libraries allocates an
additional $130 million per year to the Los Angeles Public Libraries and
increases the percentage of property tax revenue intended for libraries
from 0.0175 to 0.03 percent over the next four years.
Charter Amendment H: restricts bidders of city contracts valued at
more than $100,000 from making campaign contributions to or fund-raising
for city officials and candidates.
Charter Amendment N: requires the city to comply with two recent
supreme court rulings on campaign contributions from independent
committees.
Charter Amendment P: Mandates that the city increase its emer-gency
reserve accounts to 2.75 percent of the general fund.
Charter Amendment J: Requires the Department of Water and
Power submit a preliminary budget to the city council and also to outline
procedures for transferring the DWP’s surplus to the city’s general fund.
Charter Amendment G: reduces newly hired police and firefight-ers’
pensions from 50 to 40 percent of their salary at age 50 after 20 years
of service. It also requires them to contribute an additional 2 percent of
their salary to the health care program and the pensions of retirees.
Ballot Measures

Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 172, NO. 37 | Tuesday March 8, 2011
By David Lowenstein
Daily Trojan
Los Angeles voters will head to
the polls today to vote for seven
City Council seats and a range of
ballot measures including whether
a tax should be imposed on the sale
of medical marijuana and whether
an oil extraction fee should be
instituted.
Although there has been minimal
campaigning by advocacy groups for
the ballot measures, the race for the
City Council’s 8th District seat, which
represents USC and its surrounding
area, has intensified in the days
leading up to today’s election.
Forescee Hogan-Rowles is hoping
to oust incumbent City Councilman
and former LAPD Police Chief
Bernard Parks from the 8th District
seat.
Hogan-Rowles is the current
President and CEO of the Community
Financial Resource Center, a leading
provider of financial services for low-income
families in Los Angeles.
The two candidates have sparred
over various issues including
whether raves should be hosted at
the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The issue became particularly
contentious after a teenage girl
died of a drug overdose at the 2010
Electric Daisy Carnival.
Parks, who serves on the board
of the Coliseum Commission,
maintains raves should be held at
the Coliseum because they stimulate
the economy of the 8th District and
reflect the music preference of music
listeners worldwide.
Hogan-Rowles, however, argues
the dangers of raves far outweigh
any economic benefits and are not
conducive to the environment the 8th
District should be trying to promote.
Laura Walsh | Daily Trojan
Speak out
Vincent Vigil, director of the LGBT Student Resource Center, facilitates a discussion with students and
alumni at the Latino Queer Story event, where speakers talked about their coming-out experiences.
The event featured Sandra Valls, who was named one of Curve Magazine’s Top-10 lesbian comics.
By dara weinraub
Daily Trojan
A racy e-mail that has spread viral-ly
through the Greek community and
beyond is currently under investiga-tion
by the Kappa Sigma Fraternity
nationals.
The e-mail, whose author claims
to be a member of Kappa Sigma, asks
the members of the fraternity to re-late
all of their sexual encounters in
“Tucker Max format.” Tucker Max
writes and blogs about his drunken
activities and sexual exploits.
The author of the e-mail refers to
women as “targets” for the entirety of
the message.
“I will refer to females as ‘targets.’
They aren’t actual people like us men,”
the e-mail reads. “Consequently, giv-ing
them a certain name or distinc-tion
is pointless.”
The e-mail contains a glossary
of explicit terms to define males, fe-males
and descriptions of body parts.
The author of the e-mail also details a
way for the members of the fraternity
to rate the physical attractiveness of
their partners. Women are then cate-gorized
by their nationality and eth-nicity
in the e-mail.
“The content [of the e-mail] is con-trary
to everything [Kappa Sigma
stands] for and we are not going to al-low
individuals to attempt to tarnish
our name in any form or fashion,” said
Mitchell Wilson, executive director
of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. “We will
pursue this as far as we can.”
The full text of the e-mail has been
circulated to many students both
Greek and non-Greek, and it has been
posted on online college gossip sites.
Wilson said he received a phone
call Monday from Zach Timm, pres-ident
of Kappa Sigma at USC, about
the e-mail.
“Obviously we are appalled that
[the e-mail is] associated in any way
with our name because the e-mail
is disgusting and offensive,” Wilson
said. “We are going to do our best to
identify who the author is and hold
the person accountable.”
Pat Lauer, president of USC’s
Interfraternity council, and Ayushi
Gummadi, president of USC’s
Panhellenic council, said they were
first made aware of the e-mail
Thursday.
Though the e-mail purports to
have been sent from a member of
USC’s chapter of Kappa Sigma to the
other members of the house, Lauer
said IFC has yet to confirm who sent
the e-mail, if the e-mail really was
sent from a member of USC’s chapter
of Kappa Sigma or how the e-mail was
disseminated to the public.
“We have been told and under-stand
that this e-mail was forwarded
Kappa Sigma Nationals
investigating viral e-mail
IFC says the e-mail’s explicit
content does not reflect the
Greek community’s values.
| see e-mail, page 10 |
By Gina hernandez
Daily Trojan
Christina Ellis, a freshman
majoring in fine arts, commutes
to her internship in the Fashion
District upwards of three times a
week. To make that trip, she must
pay $53 to fill up her gas tank.
“I fill up my tank less often and
really push it,” she said.
Up 14 cents from last week and
50 cents from last month, gas
prices in Southern California now
rival those found in Alaska and
Hawaii, the two states with the
highest gas prices in the country.
Southern California gas
prices are the highest they have
been since 2008, when the state
average was $4.61.
Gas prices average $3.91 per
gallon for regular gas in the
Los Angeles Long Beach area,
according to the Automobile Club
of Southern California. The price
increase has led many students to
change their habits.
“Now I pay attention and
know which gas stations are less
[expensive] than others,” said
Kirsten Resha, an undeclared
sophomore. “I’m more aware now
than ever.”
Resha, who used to commute
to her home in Orange County
for the weekend, said she is now
less likely to make the drive home
because of the increased expense.
Students most impacted by
the rising prices are those who
commute to school every day
such as Genevieve Nguyen, a
Gas prices force students
to alter spending habits
Prices for regular gas have
reached an average of $3.91
per gallon in the Golden State.
| see gas, page 10 |
Some students unaware of Council elections
Forescee Hogan-Rowles and
incumbent Bernard Parks are
vying for the 8th District seat.
| see Elections, page 10 |
InDEX 2 · News Digest 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 6 · Sudoku 8 · Classifieds 12 · Sports
Revelations: Silvia Shap’s
portraits on display at
Fischer. PAGE 5
Hitting the road: USC heads to
Santa Barbara looking to end its
seven-game skid. PAGE 12
“Now I pay attention
and know which gas
stations are less
[expensive] than
others. I’m more aware
now than ever”
· · ·
Kristen Resha
Sophomore
Undeclared
Suji Pyun | Daily Trojan
Charter Amendment L: Los Angeles Public Libraries allocates an
additional $130 million per year to the Los Angeles Public Libraries and
increases the percentage of property tax revenue intended for libraries
from 0.0175 to 0.03 percent over the next four years.
Charter Amendment H: restricts bidders of city contracts valued at
more than $100,000 from making campaign contributions to or fund-raising
for city officials and candidates.
Charter Amendment N: requires the city to comply with two recent
supreme court rulings on campaign contributions from independent
committees.
Charter Amendment P: Mandates that the city increase its emer-gency
reserve accounts to 2.75 percent of the general fund.
Charter Amendment J: Requires the Department of Water and
Power submit a preliminary budget to the city council and also to outline
procedures for transferring the DWP’s surplus to the city’s general fund.
Charter Amendment G: reduces newly hired police and firefight-ers’
pensions from 50 to 40 percent of their salary at age 50 after 20 years
of service. It also requires them to contribute an additional 2 percent of
their salary to the health care program and the pensions of retirees.
Ballot Measures